Barboach Line/RSE
Barboach can be found by fishing with the Good or Super Rod on Routes 111, 114, 120, Meteor Falls and Victory Road. Whiscash can be found by fishing with the Super Rod in Meteor Falls and Victory Road. Hoenn's other Water/Ground type! Whiscash may not be as game-breaking as Swampert, but hey, having only a single rare weakness is a sweet deal no matter how you slice it. It's also more durable than it looks, possessing a rather impressive amount of HP and Amnesia to make up for its iffy defensive stats. ...Which is a good thing, as with its rather low-key offensive stats it'll take a bit longer to overcome its opposition. Still, a solid choice. Important Matchups - Emerald = * Shelly (Weather Institute): Taking on either Carvanha or Mightyena will require setting up with Amnesia first. (Assuming you still have a Barboach, that is. If you've overground up to Whiscash it'll have no problems here, barring a streak of bad luck with Mightyena's Swagger.) * Rival (Route 119): If you still have Barboach, the only thing it can fight is Slugma - it simply doesn't have enough power or bulk for anything else. As Whiscash, prospects improve considerably: Pelipper can be taken down with Ice Beam (though it will take some time and an Electric type is obviously better), Slugma/Combusken with Surf and Marshtomp also with Surf. Avoid either Grass type. * Gym #6 - Winona (Fortree City, Flying-type): You'll definitely have a Whiscash by now. Swablu can be Ice Beamed; just stay mindful of its Perish Song. Ice Beam works for Pelipper too - it may only hit neutrally but Pelipper's neither that durable nor a heavy hitter. More Ice Beam for the Tropius, though if Tropius is naturally faster or uses Sunny Day on its first turn, retreat to avoid death-by-Solarbeam. Whiscash can Surf the Skarmory; whether or not healing will be needed depends on how much of a jerk Sand-Attack is. Finally, shoot down Altaria with Ice Beam; it'll probably take two but none of its attacks will OHKO even on a crit. * Rival (Lilycove City): Like before, apply Ice Beam to Pelipper, surf Marshtomp/Combusken and Slugma and avoid all Grass-types, including the newcomer Tropius. (Mind, Whiscash might be able to survive a single Magical Leaf from Tropius depending on Nature and values but it's a close call, and a crit is lethal no matter what.) * Tabitha (Jagged Pass Hideout): Whiscash plows through both camels with Surf, which is also effective against Mightyena. Meanwhile, Zubat falls to Ice Beam. No reason to break a sweat on these weaklings! * Maxie (Jagged Pass Hideout): Surf mops up Mightyena and Camerupt without much trouble. Crobat's a bit riskier; while Whiscash can handle its regular attacks fairly well, crits will pose a noticeable threat. As long as Whiscash doesn't get confused it should be doable, but have a plan B ready just in case. * Matt (Lilycove Hideout): Mightyena has no attacks, so the only worry is Swagger. Attach a Persim and Surf or Magnitude/Earthquake your way to victory. On a similar note, Golbat's nonthreatening barring Confuse Ray hax. Ice Beam it. * Gym #7 - Tate and Liza (Mossdeep City, Psychic-type): Good on paper, poor in practice. Xatu and Solrock's Sunny Day combined with Claydol and Lunatone's Light Screen puts one heck of a dent in Whiscash's offensive capabilities. Amnesia can help a lot (at least once the Earthquake-spamming Claydol is out of the picture) but it'll be a long drawn-out affair. (Though, even without Amnesia it can at least take out the Xatu with Ice Beams.) * Maxie and Tabitha (Mossdeep Space Center, tag battle with Steven): Surf spam is the way to go for much of this battle, unless both bats are on the field, in which case it's better to shoot them down individually with Ice Beam. There is a lot of luck factor here, particularly in regards to confusion hax, and it's unlikely that Whiscash can last the whole fight without healing; if healing's banned, make sure to either take out the Crobat ASAP or else retreat as it has Mean Look. * Shelly (Seafloor Cavern): Earthquake the Sharpedo and Surf the Mightyena. As usual, Swagger is the only major threat here. * Archie (Seafloor Cavern): The usual strategy: Surf the Mightyena, Ice Beam the Crobat and Earthquake the Sharpedo, remaining aware of confusion hax at all times. * Gym #8 - Juan (Sootopolis City, Water-type): Earthquake flattens Luvdisc and Sealeo and even under rain their Water Pulses aren't much of a threat. Crawdaunt's a much larger threat; you MUST be able to outspeed in order to take it on without Amnesia buffs and even then a crit Crabhammer under rain could off Whiscash from full health. (If you do plan to build Amnesia stacks, Luvdisc is probably the best for this purpose.) His own Whiscash is a pretty even match, though if you're faster you should manage it. When fully boosted by Amnesia, Whiscash can tank Kingdra's attacks for a long time. However, Kingdra's carrying the obnoxious combo of Rest and Double Team. It's possible, but it'll be a long fight with a lot of healing involved, unless you have good luck with crits. * Wally (Victory Road): Ice Beam clips Altaria's wings. Use Surf or Earthquake (stick to Surf if it gets a Charm off) against Delcatty, who is so stat-poor that even Assist-induced Grass attacks can be endured. Avoid Roselia because Grass STAB. Earthquake flattens Magneton in a heartbeat. Gardevoir should fall to a few Earthquakes, and if Calm Mind makes you nervous you can counter it with Amnesia. * Elite Four Sidney (Ever Grande City, Dark-type): Surf the somewhat annoying but nonthreatening Mightyena. Avoid Cacturne; Ice Beam won't one-shot it while Needle Arm could very well down Whiscash from full health. Shiftry lacks Grass moves and is dropped by two Ice Beams, though Double Team and Swagger could prove a nuisance depending on the RNG's mood; plus Torment will up Whiscash's ability to spam Ice Beam. Earthquakes will deal with Crawdaunt, though only if Whiscash is at high health and is capable of outspeeding. Earthquake (or possibly Surf depending on stat distribution) will also dispatch Absol, but crit or Swords Dance boosted Slash will carve large chunks out of Whiscash's health; success largely depends on whether or not Sidney still has Full Restores. * Elite Four Phoebe (Ever Grande City, Ghost-type): Earthquake or Surf will eventually drop the initial Dusclops, though switch out afterward if Cursed. The same moves will work for the pair of Banette, though naturally stick to Surf if you wind up burnt by the one carrying Will-O-Wisp. Sableye's fragile (albeit potentially annoying with Double Team); Surf/Quake for the win! Same "tactics" apply for the second Dusclops; it'll take some time but luckily Dusclops's attacks don't pack too much of a punch due to its lowish offensive stats. * Elite Four Glacia (Ever Grande City, Ice-type): Overall, not the greatest idea; while Whiscash will come out on top of a one-on-one with the lower leveled Glalie (the higher leveled has Explosion) or either of the Sealeo (possibly also Walrein with some Amnesia assistance) its difficulty in killing quickly combined with passive hail damage means it'll need more than a few doses of healing if it's in for the full set. Best to just use a teammate with more punch (literal or not) or one with a lot of Special bulk. * Elite Four Drake (Ever Grande City, Dragon-type): Ice Beam will cut down anything not named Kingdra; though with Whiscash's tendency to be outsped it'll likely have to pop a Full Restore at some point. Earthquake is better for Kingdra; though Whiscash will need at least one Amnesia use to survive Surf spam and with Smokescreen in play there's a definite luck factor involved. * Champion Wallace (Ever Grande City, Water-type): Earthquake deals with Wailord; even if Whiscash is outsped a full power Water Spout won't kill it except on a crit. Earthquake's also effective for Tentacruel and Whiscash can tank at least one Hydro Pump. Avoid Ludicolo as it has Giga Drain. Whiscash is largely a mirror match, though odds are it'll go in your favor as it burns turns on Amnesias and Hyper Beam recharging turns. Don't use Whiscash against Gyarados; all that'll accomplish is giving it turns to set up team-sweeping Dragon Dances. Like in Ruby/Sapphire, don't battle Milotic due to Whiscash's inability to outdamage Recover. * Post-Game: Steven is basically a higher-leveled version of his RS counterpart and thus the same strategies apply. Rayquaza's glaring Ice weakness makes Whiscash a candidate for battling it; however Whiscash MUST use Amnesia on its first turn to be able to survive potential Outrage spam. It still can't fight either member of the weather trio though - Kyogre's still carrying its devastating Hydro Pump and Groudon's even deadlier now that it can spam chargeturnless Solarbeams. }} Moves Barboach can be caught as low as level 10, at which point it'll have Mud-Slap, Mud Sport and Water Sport, none of which are that useful. Ignore level 11's Water Gun as you'll already have Surf by this point. Magnitude comes at level 16 and will serve well while it waits for Earthquake. Amnesia at level 21 is highly recommended, turning it into a special wall rather quickly. Level 26 brings the bundle pack of Rest and Snore; the former might have some niche use if healing's restricted (particularly when combined with Amnesia against special attackers) but the latter is far too weak. Barboach evolves at level 30 but it might be best to wait a level in order to learn the incredible Earthquake; Whiscash gets it at level 36 instead. Future Sight (level 46) and Fissure (level 56) are not really worth it. The most notable TM/HM moves it can learn are Surf for pure STABy goodness and Ice Beam for coverage. For gimmicky purposes there's the usual spread of Toxic, Double Team and Attract. If needed as an HM slave it can also learn Strength, Rock Smash, Waterfall and Dive, though the first two are only available as Whiscash. Recommended moveset: Earthquake, Surf, Ice Beam, Amnesia Recommended Teammates * Grass-resisters: While not particularly common, Grass-types are a glaring Achilles' heel for Whiscash. Luckily, Grass has many weaknesses and thus the odds of not having a counter to it are slim. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Crobat, Blaziken, Dustox, Beautifly, Vileplume * Physically Defensive Pokemon: Whiscash can quickly make up for its lackluster Special Defense with Amnesia, but has no such luck for its equally mediocre Defense. A physically bulky teammate is a welcome help. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Torkoal, Dusclops, Aggron, Weezing, Slaking Other Barboach's stats Whiscash's stats * What Nature do I want? Whiscash won't be outspeeding much with Base 60 Speed, so a nature that decreases Speed is best. As it's a mixed attacker, try to avoid natures that decrease either offensive stat. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Either before the Route 119 rival battle or shortly thereafter. It's recommended to wait until level 31 to evolve in order to pick up Earthquake earlier. * How good is the Barboach line in a Nuzlocke? Pretty darn good. Even with stats like those it can face down much of what the region has to offer. Type matchups: * Weaknesses: Grass (x4) * Resistances: Steel, Fire, Rock, Poison * Immunities: Electric * Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Flying, Ground, Bug, Ghost, Psychic, Dragon, Dark, Ice, Water Category:Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald